Today we’re travelling to a small town in Norway to indulge in the melodious melancholy that is emblematic of Scandinavian singer-songwriter music. This artist has been compared to Bon Iver, Daughter and the Tonemamas couldn’t agree more….introducing Kefeider with his acoustic guitar ballad, “The Island”.
Indie/ folk/ rock artist Kefeider tells us this song was written during the beginning period of COVID-19 when “someone close to me was hospitalized, and I was not allowed to visit the person.” It is a song of distance, of isolation, of wanting to reach out beyond state-mandated boundaries. The song starts with Kefeider’s mournful voice singing, “there is an island within your eyes.” It is a beautifully eerie image, and it’s this lyrical poetry that seems to be second nature to our Norwegian songwriter. We are lifted up into fresh and liberating harmonies in the chorus while Kefeider sings the rousing lyrics, “Wave your sweater above your head now/ I just want to say hello”.
It is deeply moving, and we are reminded of all the heart-warming videos and images of musicians playing their instruments on balconies during the most severe stages of the lockdown. That even in the most isolated of contexts, connection was still created. It makes the Tonemamas think of Ben Howard’s song “Black Flies” where he sings: “no man is an island” …Kefeider takes us back to a time where we were all stuck on our individual islands but reminds us that no pandemic can destroy the power of music to create connections where you thought none were possible anymore.
(*Cue: “Alexa, play “Thank You For the Music” by ABBA*)
Best listened to: While making a slideshow of corona-time photos for a memory you both want and don’t want to keep (which are mostly Zoom/Skype screenshots)
Listen for this moment: 0:37 the gorgeous arch of the chorus melody over exquisite modal harmonies (for our non-musical Tonemillers, go and Google it…they make great harmonies!)